stalenews

A bird in the bush ...

2012-01-04T02:14:00.000-08:00

Why this post?

This December, as a part of a 12 day train / bus / bike and car drive solo winter vacation, I visited the village of Mangalajodi on the shores of Lake Chilika, Odisha. I'm writing this note to let all bird enthusiasts know what awaits them if they can make the trip (I have not seen many web references to this excellent spot nor did I meet too many birders even though it was December 30^th when I visited).

A bollywood story

The story of Mangalajodi is nothing short of what many a Bollywood movie (especially those from the 70s and earlier) depicted – the bad guys turn good. The entire village a decade or so ago was inhabited by bird-hunters. These poachers used to hunt, capture alive or dead the many migratory birds that visited India's largest lagoon and sell them to people nearby to keep as pets or simply use as food (shudder). Then, (I forget the exact date – it was about 10 years ago), a good samaritan and conservationist - Mr Bujabal started advising this band of poachers the on the possible downsides of the dwindling bird population. A change of heart occurred and under the aegis of Sri Sri Mahavir Pakshi Surakshya Samiti ( lit : Sri Sri Mahavir bird protection council), a registered NGO, the poachers of Mangalajodi turned into guides for the visiting tourist. It was through them that I was able to reach this unique place and enjoy an excellent morning (3 hours +) of lovely birding through the reed filled waters of the Mangalajodi creek. Also, thanks to their background (they hunted birds for the money), the guides know exactly in which spot one can expect what species …

A Unique position

My guide (Mr Sadhu Behara) as well as the person who helped arrange my stay for the night (Mr Subhash) were unanimous in their opinion that it’s the unique geographical position (its surrounded on one side by small hills and about 6 kms off the NH 5 that connects BBSR with Vizag) as well as ecology of the creek (depth no more than 3-5 feet tops – usually just about 2 feet of water and mud; plenty of reeds and algae that provide bird fodder) attract a large number of resident, resident-migratory and migratory birds.

The Approach

Due to a miscalculation on my part while driving from Konark via Raghurajpur (the village famous for pattachitras) I reached Mangalajodi after a grueling 5 hour drive. I should have taken the road via pipli but some locals mis-directed me into going via Nirakarpur and Rameshwar – that road had potholes large enough to contain an entire maruti car. That ride wasn’t without it’s high-points though – such as this flock of Asian open billed storks in the field (about 50 feet from the road) and the part that was good – was very scenic indeed (below)

Thanks to this misadventure, it was about 6 pm when I reached. I ended up in the Samiti office only to learn that the nearest hotel (in Barkul) was a 42 km drive – 7 of those to get to the main NH5 and then another 35 driving towards Vizag. Due to the warm hospitality of Mr Subhash and their welcoming attitude I agreed to spend the night in their office with only a mattress and two extra-power mosquito coils burning on either side of this makeshift bed. This is a shot of the room with my beds heaped on some plastic chairs.

The hardships faced during the night didn’t go completely unrewarded – I had a headstart in the morning ahead of any visitors by an hour. A quick cup of tea and some biscuits later, guide and I were off driving on the nature trail (1.5 kms approx) till the first jetty where the small fishing boats are parked.

The photograph taken below shows the trail and a car in the far horizon. On either side are the reeds with plenty of bird life.

The first hour or so was taken up by walking around the trail and a kind of introduction to many species (I’m not very good with bird names so this part helped and any of the experts who visit this blog please do add the correct names). Here we saw a great snipe (below)

And a pair of beautiful brahminy ducks (ruddy shelduck) – these lovely creatures were to totally grab my attention for next couple hours.

Since I have only a basic zoom and the day was cloudy plus there’s plenty of grass, most of these images didn’t come out right – I’ve cropped them to show the birds as far as possible.
The trail itself is rather scenic with some lotus flowers that grow naturally in the area:

After this, by 8:00 we were off in our boat – at this time, I noticed the first batch of tourists driving down the trail. Anyways, the boats don’t make for comfortable seating but do make for great viewing as one sits on water level (the bottom of the boat actually goes a foot or so below water level) – this also allows better bird watching and photography. Finally, I was able to get some better shots. Seen below is a black tailed godwit (?)

Ok, after that confusion, this is most likely a purple heron and the one below is certainly a black ibis.

Well, the birding kept getting better and better though I should have noted down the names earlier (I was too focused on getting the shots right despite the light and the challenges with my lens)

…and I could see my beautiful brahminy duck at closer quarters ….

A pair of gorgeous black glossy ibis birds ….

Even our nearly silent boat (its human powered by a man who simply pushes the ground below to take the boat forward with a pole – its not even rowing) was enough to send many birds flying away – including this pair of brahminys ….

Mercifully the sun came out giving me some better lit shots ….. here’re some great egrets:

…and an open billed stork at closer quarters too:

The hyacinth and the reeds were mostly behind us and quickly we were into the open water – and proportionately, I could see birds only at a much greater distance – and then Subhash’s words flashed in my mind (sir, without plants the birds can’t live … so more birds here than in open Chilika lake). All I could see on this stretch was a fisherman’s boat and the tourists that had come behind us and went in another boat.

So I asked the guide and the boatman to turn around and was promptly rewarded with some better shots … including another godwit shot (and a smaller visitor below that I cant recall the name of …)

Further closer to the grassy area, we spotted a Ruff, plenty of moorhens and many bronze winged Jacanas (given below is a photo of each in the same order). I’m told the Ruffs come from Eurasian regions while the Jacana is a resident wetland bird in India …

By now, it was almost 10 am and the previous night’s erratic sleep, the drive and the early morning had all left me somewhat tired – the 3 hour guided tour window was over as well. Hence I politely declined the offer to do another 3 hour tour with the guide and we headed back for the trail. The last shots were the best as I could get very close to a great egret – he did look at me as if something was ‘fishy’ but decided I wasn’t lunch and hurried away …

We drove back to the visitor’s centre cum office of the Pakshi Suraksha Samiti for payment of fees etc (its Rs 600/- for a boat ride) and a goodbye to them. The guides cum office bearers came across as very genuine people (I think I asked for the black tailed godwit like 11 times and I still cant remember a few small birds that I extensively shot ….). As seen below the facility where the office-bearers conduct their business is very basic and I’m sure if more people visit this wonderful place it will keep the Samiti going on the mission that they started off with. I am inclined to think this way as when the villagers were poachers they made many more times what they make now as guides.

Facts for the visitor:

How to reach:

(by road) Drive towards Balugaon via Khurda from Bhubaneswar or Cuttack end and take a turn (left) at Tangi. A metalled road leads you to Chandipur. After crossing Chandipur, a left turn at the sign for the UCO bank ATM will lead you to Mangalajodi after couple more kilometers.

(by train) The Puri Gunupur passenger will stop at Mukteshwarpuri Ph (the closest train station to Mangalajodi – literally a hop step away). There are a total of 4 passenger trains from the BBSR or Puri railway stations that all stop at Mukteshwarpuri. Please use erail.in or other website to see exact connections that work for you.

Where to stay:

If you’re adventurous and don’t mind roughing it out a bit, ask the samiti and they will place a bed for you (a knitted one with an iron frame). The other option is to stay in Balugaon or Barkul but you basically lose the morning hours. I met 4 carload full of people all arriving at nearly ten AM when I was done already asking me if the birding was any good – I had a big grin on my face and said ‘yup!’ I did ask them where they came in from and when I heard barkul I had to ask if they saw any birds. This question was answered with a huge side to side shake of the head that I took to be a ‘no’ !

Last words:

Mangalajodi’s economy has taken a huge hit after all the poachers converted to tour guides. Currently, they have a tie up with Wild Orissa but I felt the people weren’t doing terribly well (apparently what they used to make in a month was several thousand rupees through killing /trapping these birds and selling them). Despite these hardships, the people aren’t wanting for anything from the visitors and it was such a refreshing change from the ‘hard sell’ that so often greets me in cities across Rajasthan – my home state. If you choose to visit, please do tip your guide as best as you can.

So, I turned around and asked Sadhu what keeps him going. His face lit up instantly and he said ‘I do this so that people know the name of my family and my village’ ….. I left the place with a spring in my step.

Diwali Break trip - Log of Day 1 - October 22nd - Jaipur to Nakodaji

2011-10-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

This was my much awaited diwali break trip. Here's the trip log for day 1:

Three of us (parents and I) started from home at 7:40 am and reached the ajmer highway in 30 minutes. Highway was the usual well maintained stretch and devoid of much traffic at that hour..Paid first toll and continued. Shortly before kishangarh took the diversion towards nasirabad, etc. Realized quickly that this isn't where we should be heading (road was too good and we had used it in 05 for chittor trip). Stopped, asked for directions and were given conflicting advice by truckers and a shopkeeper. One suggested we should continue till nasirabad and take a right turn from inside the bus stand , continue onto mangliawas and rejoin the NH at beawar.. We chose to follow the safer route of heading back to the kishangarh byepass and onto NH8. This detour cost approx 35 minutes. Kishangarh byepass was really bad - thanks to the thriving marble business and the road widening work currently underway. Trailer after long trailer slowed us down and very soon were 1 hour behind schedule. The highway didn't improve much at ajmer byepass either. From barr, the road was a two lane highway (112) and devoid of heavy traffic which was great for the drive. Gave the car to papa from here onwards till Jodhpur. Missed the dangiawas turn towards balotra which was to prove propitious later.

Entered Jodhpur city and stopped at hotel chadra inn - pavan sagar restaurant for lunch. food good though - cost about 300+ for three.

Met the very helpful driver mr shambhu dutt( retd from air-force and now has two cabs) who intimated that road to balotra and Barmer has been closed since two months by angry villagers at village doli about 100 km from Jodhpur on the Barmer highway. Thanked him profusely but he refused any tip/ offers of cup of tea, etc. He's a good person who has two good cars and knows the entire area very well....... If anyone requires his number to rent a car, I can share. We managed to shape the the rest of the trip more comfortably thanks to his good advice about which roads to take. Left at 3:30 after lunch from Jodhpur via boranada industrial area - onto the village newri - on a single lane road that was often covered only with grit.

We were soon joined by two taxi number innovas and two buses headed to Barmer and to sanchore, respectively. all doubts about the veracity of the information given by mr dutt were laid to rest. The dusty roads join the mega highway running from phalodi to ramji ki gol at thob. V Smooth ride from thob till balotra on the highway. Reached the temple at nakodaji (13 km from balotra) around 5:40. Went straight for darshan. Photography inside the temple is strictly prohibited at all times (outside permitted and some night shots will follow).

Missed dinner at bhojanshala as it serves only prior to sunset and we had had reached at closing time....... Wasted about an hour checking out nearby cottages built by a developer as resort. Its called arham kutir by himmada developer - avoidable. Found aircon room inside the temple complex for just rs 500/-. rooms sleep two on the bed and two on floor. Dinner outside was disappointing. Spoke with a few helpful cab drivers on various routes possible to jaisalmer and slept early.

Trip log 23rd October - Nakodaji-Jaisalmer

2011-10-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

After the shower this morning, we all went for darshan at nakodaji again. Felt that the statue of nakoda bhairav was perhaps modelled after a real person - the eyes are colored and made to look natural giving an added effect. Went for breakfast at the bhojanshala. Its an all you can eat for rs 20- given the quality and service levels would put any restaurant to shame. The spread was fresh khaman, khakhra with peanut chutney(dry), sweet kadhi with upma, gathiya, as much tea or milk as you liked. The hall seats 400. A stranger was distributing fresh milkcake as prasad - ate up quickly as the prayed distributed in the temple precinct cannot be taken outside(folklore). Forgot to take a snap of the kalpvriksha.

On the way out went up the steps of the temple of tirthankar shantinathji. (see pic
below)

Proved to be the best of the lot in terms of carvings so far....... Each pillar shows atleast 40 nayikas none alike and the temple has 24 pillars perhaps more. The past lives of sri santinathji and sri parshvanathji are depicted as a series of 3d paintings. there are close to 50 paintings running along the courtyard walls. Stuff loaded in the car left for jaisalmer via pachpadra and onto the mega highway. The higway is smooth as silk - not too well advertised(thank god) and connects us to Jodhpur jaisalmer highway at dechu. (pic attached)

5 km past village thob on the mega highway, in a field to the left of the road, spotted a flock of 200+ cranes. They were feeding on something in the field that I couldn't identify - perhaps a wild gourd that grows abundantly in the fields in this area - time was 9:45 am.

We left the mega highway at dechu, 130 kms from balotra, having paid toll of rs 45 at kelam kot. Just as we turned narrowly avoided running over a medium sized desert lizard. At 11:30 we were in lava gaon, about 14 km before Pokaran. On the right side was a waterbody that was the rest stop for a flock of about 150 demoiselle cranes or kurja as the birds are called locally. Got a snap of the cormorants on the tree (attached)

From there a fairly uneventful drive to jaisalmer except for my father who had the time of his life by driving at 120 kmph. Entered jaisalmer at 1:00 pm.

Now the hunt for a good hotel began. The first call was to the rtdc hotel moomal. Not only had their charges gone higher than the published rate on the web, they didn't have any availability for the next night.......another hotelier seemed more promising, he sent a guy on a bike to lead us to his hotel that promised lcd tv, tub bath and other needless mod-cons just half km from where we were!. So, short of a place to stay and already weary from the half day drive, we followed him.

He took us past the bus stand and continued to take us further till about a km and a half. The road got narrower and dusty till we decided his hotel's location wasn't going to be as good and stopped to turn back. To our surprise he not only followed us but kept circling our car on his bike asking us to come back. Finally he got quite loud and overly insistent. We were happy to get rid of him. Then I just called manoj of desert boys only to learn there's no one by that name - his real name was Mehrab - and met him at his restaurant. Leaving our car there, our luggage was taken in an auto to the museum area and then by hand through couple of really narrow lanes to the hotel that’s located in Vyas Para in the fort area (pic of the guest house)

The fort is definitely overgrown and reeling under population pressure, roads are choked and in several parts and people are constructing extensions to the houses and guest houses. The first look at the fort as one enters left me a bit undewhelemed compared to the grand entry of gwalior or mehrangarh, Jodhpur

In this time that had elapsed checking out the other hotel - the first room I had seen was gone - it turned out to be for the better - It was very nicely decorated with Rajasthani mirror work and the bedcovers and curtains were all made of traditional sarees. There was a charkha too :).

The room was located under the burj and had a beautiful view of the city from the windows.

The owner arvind vyas is quite knowledgeable about the jaisalmer area and could make several suggestions about what to visit and what to avoid. Hence after some rest first stop was at the havelis. The Patwa havelis has to be seen to be believed - see the stunning facade.

The rooms are very well preserved, properly labeled and described. The ladies' dressing room, Kitchen (Seen below) and the munim's room are especially interesting and give us peep into the objects used one hundred years ago by a rich indian family while the drawing rooms (below) are testimony to the regal standard of living of the patwas.

Some of the most interesting artifacts are weights and measures (including one ser and a chatank), an opium measure and a video camera. Nathmal havelis facade is the only place left now and one can visit upto the atrium. Spent some more time taking shots of streets and the main fort gate before moving to gadisar lake for the sunset.

The lake is pleasant and quiet from a distance though on closer inspection is full of very aggressive looking catfish and a bit dirty so didn't feel like boating.

Went back to the city past sunset via lakshminarayan temple in the city. Dinner was at the burj that gets wonderfully pleasant and afforded a nice view of the city. City was well lit though diwali decorations not a patch on jaipur.
.

Trip log 24th October - Jaisalmer- Phalodi

2011-10-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

Woke up around 5:45 and felt like going out and taking sunrise shots - don't get to do that too often in the city. Rushed out at 6:00 and met the guest house owner. He advised to walk across couple streets to a guest house on the opposite wall of the fort (facing east). The owner of that g.h. was quite happy to let me upstairs to the roof after I gave reference of my guest house's owner. It was quite cold there but the view was spectacular. in the east one could see gadisar lake and the old city expanse and windmills in the far horizon.

In the west from the roof higher than this was the main entrance of the fort and the palace buildings (now the museum) with hundreds of pigeons resting overnight. (see pic)

I was a bit early for the sunrise and a couple photo enthusiasts also showed up on the same roof in sometime and we all waited and got some shots though the haze made it far from ideal to take great sunrise photos (see pic)

Got back to the guest house and the prevailing mood in the room was of general disenchantment with the room and the touristy nature of the city. So the decision was to visit the jain temples and then lodruva/amar sagar and leave.

First stop was the chandraprabh temple at fort that was a few hundred metres from the guest house. The temple houses 108 statues of parswanathji and is impressively carved.

The neighboring temple of parswanathji has a beautiful ornate gate that I couldnt stop clicking (see below).

Other details in the temple were no less impressive (Given its age)

It also has few smaller temples within its compound and a statue of bhomiyaji.

The moolnayak (main statue) is made of sandstone and mother of pearl paste is applied once every 8 years to make it totally white. I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't asked the priest !

The nearby temple of shantinathji had a colony of small and very evil looking bats.

Overall, a great set of temples though not matching khajuraho in detail or variety yet some nayika statues were very beautiful.

Checked out of hotel and drove to Lohdruva on sam road. The two statues of parswanathji - one in the main temple and another in the smaller annexe temple are made of kasauti stone. The gatekeeper informed me that the principal sculptor of the statue could carve only one statue in his lifetime (due to hardness of the material) and that statue is in the main temple. The sculptor's son finished the other statue in the annexe temple. The main gate is ornate and imposing - bears marked similarity to the gate of parswanathji temple in the fort. Further, was told that the artisans working on this temple moved to patan after this temple was concluded. Now I know where I'm heading next :)

The temple was originally built around 900 ad, destroyed by muhammad of ghor and reconcstituted in 17th century. Signs of vandalizing by blunt objects very evident in the main temple thus lending credence to the story.

Next stop was Amarsagar - an adinath shrine that was renovated in 1997 by the current trust. The temple is devoid of any charm and I spent about ten minutes looking around - didn't take a single snap. Left for phalodi via Pokaran - beautiful empty road. Lunch stop at RTDC motel located strategically at the bifurcation of bikaner bound NH14 from NH112 bound from Jodhpur. Food surprisingly good for a motel where we were the only guests in a restaurant that could seat about 30.

Onwards to phalodi and Khichan - the wintering spot of the demoiselle cranes. Pulled into Khichan around 4:30 pm and started enquiring about crane habits.

We had to backtrack to Phalodi - about 8 kms away to get an acceptable room. Given that it's not a major tourist spot, the rooms were not bad value - 900/- for a double Aircon with cable and european style w.c.s The restaurant was named 'Charli' for some reason!

Trip Log 25 October - Khichan - Pushkar - Jaipur

2011-10-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Last day of the trip - I woke up at 4:45 (with great expectations for the day ahead) but somehow kept lazing around. Finally ready @ 6:45 and left phalodi. reached Khichan at 7:05 at the bird feeding shelter. At that hour the only inhabitants of the shelter were a small grey bird and a cat eyeing it hungrily. There was a peacock around though !!

Were promptly greeted by sewakram who offered that we wait at the roof of his house while the birds arrive. Suddenly we heard a call (its a very characteristic call that the Demoiselle crane has) and I looked up to take this shot:

My father showed me that across the dry river bed behind the houses the cranes had started arriving and the number exceeded 1000 easily. Per the wildlife warden on duty at the chugggaghar, this year at present there are 4000 birds in the Khichan area and still arriving. Then suddenly like a swarm, more than 20 flew from across the river and came to the open field behind the feeding area.

This was followed by another batch and then yet another till over 200, all crowing and whistling their own unique calls were behind the fence.

They started flying in small groups to survey the chuggaghar but didn't land. This continued for over half hour.

The number across the river and near the feeding area was close to 2000 by then as the birds kept arriving from the nearby fields.

Then at 8:15 am, some diwali enthusiasts burst a rather loud cracker and suddenly they were all off!!!! what an anticlimax. Exchanged numbers with sewakram (his take on the situation was the birds should return within the hour) so as to get a tip when they return - and we could eat a bit in the meantime. Started driving only to stop 50 meters from the 'chugga ghar' as on the right side, the field was full of cranes - flock was Atleast 500 strong maybe more. Managed several shots and a video.

Then they started flying and landing in an empty school compound and about 50 assembled by the time we left.

Was very happy and left Khichan at 09:30 am towards Nagaur. Entered Nagaur at 11:30 am - spotted 4 chinkaras that eluded my camera en route. Achintgarh fort is large and devoid of buildings - drove through nakash darwaja, kutchehry pol and one more. Didn't feel like stopping.

Left Nagaur at 11:58 for ajmer - NH89 surface good to very good.....Pulled into merta city shy of an hour but couldnt find any decent place to eat. Arrived at pushkar around 2:15 pm....immediately greeted by unwanted guide who deliberately misled us into some alley claiming road ahead is closed and then suggesting he could 'show us around' as he's a brahmin's son. Stopped for lunch at aroma restaurant close to mela ground and brahma temple. Pleasant garden setting (and the walls are decorated with some paintings as seen below) and good food esp great chhach.

First stop at brahma temple - could sense people must feel strongly about this temple.

Plenty of stones at temple and at ghats bear names of the donors and several are in urdu - noticed one in devnagri donated by a family from mirpur khas, sind. Later walked to brahma ghat repeatedly avoiding guides/pandits. Everyone in Pushkar seems to be trying to sell something to you - some stuff is good - Gulkand for example, others simply try to act as guides for a town that finishes before you can pronounce its name. Touristy kitsch abounds (see below):

The ghat weren't too crowded and they do have an air about them and a remarkably unhurried ambience.

The shoe-minder mentioned a total of 52 ghat though I couldn't count more than dozen.

Many pigeons on the ghats and few geese and ducks as well.

Noticed a gleaming gurudwara amongst other buildings (it was built by the sikhs after Guru Gobind Singh visited the area) ....... left pushkar at 4:45 pm.. Took us a while to get to the Kishangarh highway (NH8) but very smooth sailing after that. Found a good highway motel for dinner and back home by 9:15 pm in Jaipur. (as they say on irctc tours - tour ends with pleasant memories!! :)

the iPad of cars

2010-06-05T06:10:00.001-07:00

My conversation with the local polo dealer:

Me: Hello
Kashyap Volkswagen: Yes? (woman, sounding like she's bit high at 3 in the afternoon)
Me: I would like to talk to your sales department please.
KV: Who's calling?
Me: This is XXXX. I work with large technology company, I'm looking for a car for myself.
KV: They're busy with a customer, can you call back?
Me: Can you take my number?
KV: Sir, please call back.
Me: (!@#!) ok

5 minutes later.
...
(finally through to the sales department)
Me: Can I get a test drive?
KV: A test drive is possible, but we aren't taking it out on the road right now.
Me: What do you mean? (under my breath: gaadi hai ya ladki dikha rahe ho?)
KV: Sir, we have only one car right now and you can come into our showroom to view it.
Me: OK, so can I take it out on the road?
KV: Sir we have a driveway around the showroom, it's quite large.

Apparently they've sold 1200 here already and there's a wait for 4 months.

Reality Check

2009-06-30T23:33:00.001-07:00

I want to take Buses and trains

Ride a bike and jump on a plane.

If I could only leave my seat /

My life would not be so beat.

Do you think I have been anywhere at all?

I dream of the hills but end up at the mall.

Heaping shallow verses on unsuspecting friends

Recycling garbage is my new fashion trend

Hacker

2009-05-03T23:11:00.001-07:00

I am the Buddha … /

The eternal /

The one

Realize thy insignificance /

Triviality /

Mortality

I feel no hunger /

Sorrow or pain /

Unlike you – the once born.

Your argument and anger is wasted/

When I will unleash the perfect storm/

The ultimate worm

And your screen,

On which you view your worldly dreams.

Will die beautifully ….

Mera Joota hai ....

2009-04-28T00:57:00.000-07:00

Japani Samosa in Chandni Chowk (a place i visited for the first time this saturday) got me thinking about Japan and Japanese terms in general? Here's a primer of what i have understood so far ...

1. Sushi = fish that is priced in inverse proportion to the thickness of the slice.
2. Sumo = A nearly indestructible Tata exported SUV that so impressed the Japanese that they have people eating a whole lot to attempt equaling its weight and strength.
3. Sony = Sindhi pet name. Originally manufactured in USA (Maharashtra) – later opened branch in Tokyo.
4. Harakiri = logical career progression move for American finance company CFOs, often taken up after the firm is nationalized.
5. Karaoke = Discovery of singing talent after enough sake has flown ….
6. Vaio = Pronounced Why Oh. Short for Why oh Why did you have to put your paycheck down the toilet for a machine that doesn’t connect with anything at all.
7. Bonsai = Small tree useful for meditation to achieve breakthrough strategies by enlightenment. Often seen in Japanese boardrooms (on top of the sake cabinets). Breakthrough products have been invented after such sessions, one example is 360 degree camera as seen here: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/top-12-failed-japanese-inventions-241312.php.
8. Shin-ka-sen = Bengali bhadralok member confusing his running speed with the bullet train, running hard resulting in ow, ow, ow … my shin hurts.
9. The Ring = Inspirational film often shown to schoolchildren in Japan after they’ve walked two miles in the snow to reach class.
10. Pokemon = Short for poke-me-hon. Cry of disillusionment uttered by American dads after opening the box and seeing how small the toy actually is compared to the large hole burnt in the wallet.
11. San = a Japanese honorific term that is applied to names, e.g. San Diego.
12. Samurai = Tom cruise’s illusion that he can look like Christian bale if he dresses up in armor.
13. Las Vegas = Holiest pilgrimage place for the rich Japanese – donations can be made at any temple such as Bellagio, Luxor, etc.
14. Disneyland = Second holiest pilgrimage.
15. Kamikaze = Airplane landing technique adopted by Japanese, pioneered by Air India.
14. Yakuza = Grooming school for your talented Japanese adolescent

IPL teams listed on BSE !!

2009-04-22T01:28:00.000-07:00

Here's another IPL update:

The second edition of IPL has started heaping losses onto individual owners, thanks to consistently terrible performances by teams such as Kolkata and Punjab.
The stadia are empty and the merchandise just doesn’t fly off the shelves any longer.
So, in the true capitalistic fashion that Mr Modi is known for, each team will soon try to woo the individual investor taking advantage of the current rally on Dalal Street. Given below are the ticker symbols for the 8 franchisees.

KKR, KXIP, RCB, DCH, MUMI, DDD, CSK, RRO.

Thus the following news items will be made possible:

1. MUMI slips in intraday, then recovers - owner relieved.

2. DDD experiences high volume activity with Pamela Anderson rumored to have made a ‘strategic investment’.

3. GSK sues CSK on trademark infringement - stock collapses. GSK later fires their lead attorney (on retainer from a leading law firm), who's only comment was 'the keypad on the new blackberry is just not suitable for the Indian climate'. It is believed that the Indian climate forces attorneys to gulp large volumes of chilled kingfisher around 3 pm.

4. KKR considers taking over KKR - stock soars. Later, the senior partners abandon the move after being shown a recording of Saurabh ganguly's dinner with Shahrukh Khan (taken through secret camera). None of the partners were available to comment - one did repeatedly mention 'I've been reminded of Brokeback Mountain lately' on his blog.

5. RRO distributes Shilpa Shetty's yoga video with the prospectus - issue is oversubscribed 19.3 times through book building process.

6. RCB faces no threats, and Vijay Mallaya doesn’t face any cash crunch – so the symbol remains an artifact.

7. DCH attempts to drum up interest using non-traditional road shows, including, among other things a 17 hour promotional flying show by Gapt G R Gopinath. Full page ads (sometimes running into 12 pages out of the 16 of Deccan chronicle) also do not bring sufficient enquires. At last, Abdul Kareem Lada Saheb (last name masked on request of client confidentiality) is enlisted as special consultant. The team doesn’t list on either bourse but there’s tremendous response from the heartland of AP and Maharashtra and no more cash problems are expected till PurvankaraIPL in 2014.

8. Having failed miserably as a money spinner, KXIP re-invents itself as a not for profit FM radio station and starts church funded broadcasts from an unidentified location in Kentucky.

things that may come to pass

2009-02-16T05:25:00.000-08:00

It looks like we're staring at something more sinister than what has been seen in the past and that which shall certainly pose a threat to the way we live if this movement continues at the pace that it is currently going on.

Today, when the government of Pakistan announced the imposition of Shariah law in the swat valley district it clearly communicated to the rest of the world their fast decimating control over their own sovereign territory.

And ironically, the intelligentsia there is also more resigned to this as seen here in this Dawn article (the leading Pakistan daily) where this respected journal is actually advocating the furthering of the same set of policies to even more regions of the state.

An even more sinister pattern seems to emerge if you juxtapose the release of as many as twelve militant commanders to rescue a single Chinese engineer while allowing the polish geologist and the Indian cook to be murdered (all earlier this month). All these clearly are attempts to get cozier with China at all costs while the former 'all weather friend' United States seems to drift farther away under the current administration.

The policies of the Pakistan government that has long supported laissez-faire towards the NWFP, FATA and NATA regions are finally beginning to show their short sightedness. At the same time, the rise of the Taliban demonstrates how devastating ideological hijacking of common people, tired of government non-intervention on one hand and economic collapse on the other can possibly be.

Given the geographical proximity of Swat with Islamabad - and of the Pakistani capital with the Indian border - imagination boggles on the ramifications that the recent events have for India. For a country that is remarkably secular and liberal the very thought of a movement like the Taliban, notorious for its treatment of women and nearly dark age like legal and social structure. When one thinks of the fate of the Bamiyan Buddha’s, one can only imagine the deep animosity they would have to our way of living – our rich heritage of khajuraho and Konark.

At this point of time, we can only thank our strong sense of nationhood that (hopefully) they do not enjoy any support whatsoever inside India – the bedrock of their proliferation inside parts of Pakistan.
This article shall be updated as and when further events unfold ....

a few thousand words

2006-12-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

Am proving to be more and more useless as a blogger - irregular updates, not much to write. Just to compensate - here're a short travelogue. Having lived all my life in India, am used to train travel. So used, that other modes of long distance travel sometimes seem a bit odd. Out here, in the U.S. trains are expensive compared to travel by road for short and intermediate distances and to air for long distance- so less crowded. Long distance travel by train is also very time consuming.
Anyhow, i decided to 'try out' amtrak - the largest U.S. train carrier. (Or is it the only one?). This was a short trip from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. There is a choice of two trains - with each running multiple times during the day. The coastal starlight (often dubbed the coastal starlate - since it it often late) and the Pacific Surfliner. Reservation is easily made online and you can pick up your ticket prior to travel at the station itself (and save yourself the hassle of being around for the delivery)
I landed in LAX - which, given that it was thanksgiving morning - was very crowded. People were sitting on the floor. I was lucky to get a Flyaways bus right outside the airport terminus. The bus costs only $3 to go all the way to downtown LA - a distance of 22 miles that would usually set you back by $40 in a cab. Another bus, ferrying passengers to a parking lot, passed by - it was carrying the advertisement of the parking company and reminded me of the 101 dalmations (except for the color). Here it is:

Then came into view the spaceship like control tower of LAX:

A perfect world.

2006-10-31T15:53:00.000-08:00

Blue iguana in downtown had iced margaritas. I had a bad throat and they didnt have the white russian (kahlua with hot milk)
Bayou has 200 different kinds of beer. Am not a beer drinker - nor ever was. Pear cider is cheap and tastes like fermented pear juice - maybe that's what it actually is.
Grille from Ipanema had 15 different varieties of meat on skewers. Chicken heart was served. 'Would you like to have some, sir?' Am vegetarian. I settled for the grilled pineapple.

view from the window

2006-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

The view from the window - the first thing i see in the morning, has changed again (for the 4 th time this year) . I do not have the first one - the one in Chennai.
But the one in Minneapolis is here.

From that, it has changed to this (salt lake city):

Change for the better ? Too early to tell - its only October.

A little treasure from under the behind

2006-08-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

No , no. There's nothing obscene about this post.
I was going through the contents of my wallet today (that i usually keep in the hind-pocket) and discovered a rather curious looking coin. A closer look revealed that it was a dollar coin - but it did not look familiar.
It turned out that i had a Sacagawea commemorative golden dollar (2000 issue) in my possession. It looks like this :
Made me think of that trip to the New England area taken on the memorial day weekend. The trip was a mad dash between Keene in New Hampshire, Colchester in Connecticut and Boston.
I faintly recall that i had picked up this coin from a Trader Joe's somewhere between Boston airport and Keene, or was it somewhere else during the 600 mile stretch. I can't recall at all now.
But i did look up the U.S. mint site and read that the coin has a bit of history attached to it. A bit about Sacagawea being the shoshone Indian guide to lewis and clark on their expidition to the West of the United States.
Further, there is another interesting article that talks about the 'real' sacagawea - and also that the image on the coin is not the real sacagawea. (The US Mint site, has a section on how they finalized the design of the coin).
Quite a bit of education for one evening of cleaning my wallet.
Now, what do i do about the 1984 canadian cent?

Achieving global standards

2006-07-31T03:01:00.000-07:00

Lately, a lot of discussions in my family circles have, rather predictably, started or ended with or somehow involved the subject of my marriage.
People concerned have included friends who're in the same boat (unmarried, earning, and under pressure from their families to get hitched), relatives who are probably concerned more about the party that is just not getting started. and other assorted frantic people.
Well, i got to know of something cool (thanks to wikipedia).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_at_first_marriage
Now, this not only gives me something to shoot back at them when they get overly concerned and /or provocative. It also gives me a list of exciting destinations to potentially migrate to.
And when i go on the 'wrong' side of the average of that country, then take the logical step - move on to the next in the list.
Looks like I would be safe in Sweden for a long, long time .....

Faster surfing with Insta Eye Liner

2006-07-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago, i succumbed to the charms of broadband internet. This was partly due to my stay earlier this year in the land of hi-speed internet (namely the united states) but more due to the agressive sales techniques of Airtel.
'We will install soon sir' - and 'you will notice the difference' sir. Well, these fellows did have a rather difficult standard to match - given that i had been surfing till early June at speeds of several Mbps.
Anyhow, the vagaries of installation (move the PC to the other room, make a hole in that window) notwithstanding, the guys did a fine job and completed the installation as well as activated the connection within a mere one week of my making the payment. At the time of installation, i was given a 'scratch card' screaming 'free gift'.
'It would be sent later sir.'
'Will you bring it?'
'No, sir ! 'they' will be sending it directly.'
Ok.
A few weeks later, i had all but forgotten about any free gift and was comfortably settled in my daily routine of idlis for breakfast, eric clapton during the commute and e-mails post dinner.
But Airtel had kept their promise. They sent me the free gift for sure.
A bulging envelope arrived, with the contents of the letter reading thus:

Dear Customer,
We thank you for choosing Airtel. We are pleased to inform you that you have won an Insta Eye Liner from the scratch card that came along with your Airtel line. We take this oppotunity to welcome you exclusive Airtel family.
Wishing you all the best for times to come.
For Bharti Aitel
XXYY
VP - operations.

Even as i checked and double checked the contents of the envelope, thinking whatever happened to good marketing sense (atleast have a database that matches some personal information of the customer to make sure that an appropriate gift goes out, etc), I could not help but wonder what to do with this free gift.

I guess i would invite any of the lovely ladies who might be reading this blog, to pick it up. Or perhaps one of my friends would want to use this magic eye liner before accessing the internet.
Maybe it actually is magical.
God knows (or call Airtel and talk to the VP Operations)

Lakewood.

2006-05-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

The lakewood cemetery near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis is home to many a famous name.
It was a grey, overcast day. Rather windy. The kind of day that makes you rush from place to place - should it rain suddenly.
I walked inside the lakewood cemetery when the sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. The place itself was large and the spread became evident only when i had entered the gates. A verdant green slope, with stones and memorials standing out - as far as the eye could see. Like meerkats in africa - peeking out from their burrows.
The lake was in the background. The roads were covered with red gravel, and an occasional car would drive by.
A couple hispanic women were clipping the hedges and planting flowers. It was so quiet that i had to ask them if visitors were permitted everywhere.
'Yes, you can look all over'
'Much to see'
' And where may i find a brochure?'
'There, at the office by the entrance'
'Or, at in the Chapel'.
I backtracked to the chapel and climbed up the stairs.
Let me pick up that brochure with a guide map and also have a look at the mosaic interiors of the place too.
I stepped inside. A white haired gentleman in a grey, formal suit greeted me politely, almost as if he was trying to recognize me. A half smile - a hello that did not quite leave his lips. I stopped and asked if i could find a brochure.
Suddenly i felt that i was intruding upon something. And i asked him if i was.
"Well, there is a funeral here"
Oh.
"But you may look around, if you like"
I felt awkward.
I stood quietly in a corner making myself inconspicous.
But then the people started pouring in - one after the other and i could not make myself smaller or hide more.

Isn't it ironic that something as tragic as death would be associated with some of the loveliest art and monuments in the world - be it the Taj Mahal, the pyramids of Giza or for that matter, on a much smaller scale, Lakewood. Is it since as human beings, we are all moved by anything dramatic. Or is it that the last stop has to look beautiful to those who are staying behind? Or is it, that those who possess the material assets in this world, enjoy making a grand exit ?
It is still ironic that the representation of life, joy and beauty that often becomes pleasant art - finds the perfect setting in a place associated with that deepest of sorrows - the loss of a loved one.

I could not bring myself to take any pictures inside the chapel.

Winery tour

2006-04-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

A few photographs from the winery tour taken in Santa Barbara, CA (early march 2006)

Barrels for aging wine

view from rear (note the hedge shaped as the name of the winery)

the entrance

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

2006-03-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

Had a chance to visit the lovely minneapolis sculpture garden a few weeks ago. It was a cold (but not freezing by this tundraland's standards) sunday.
I'd let the photos do the talking ....

- Hare and the bell, with 'spoonbridge and cherry' in the background

- spoonbrige and cherry again. Notice the people on the left to gather a sense of scale about the sculpture.

- without words

Minnesota Nice

2006-03-07T10:13:00.000-08:00

Life is fast. Really fast sometimes. Relationships are made and broken with equal ease. Like disposable cups of coffee from the omnipresent starbucks. Out of sight is out of mind. People are specific about what they are looking for and do not seem to compromise – yet fall easily for temptations. Some personal ads are simply bewildering though.

Sample this from the best of CL:
Roommate for pretend marriage - 21

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: **************@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-02-24, 2:22PM CST
I would like to get my citizeship soon, so I need to find someone to pretend to be my husband for 2yrs. I will pay for half of your rent in a two-bedroom apt. All you have to do is file some papers with me.

To a lot of people, looks mean a lot – and no one would ever agree that this statement applies to them. Yet a photo is mandatory in case one plans to meet someone via Craigslist. The twin cities are a rated as a lovely place to be single and young.
I read somewhere, that in Minneapolis, it’s quite common to run into your ex with his or her ‘flavor of the season’ and put on an expression often referred to as ‘Minnesota nice. ’ I am yet to acquaint myself more with this culture to make any significant comments. It just continues to bewilder me.

Delhi Cancelled

2006-01-05T01:48:00.000-08:00

The countdown to go home in the last week of December started sometime in mid-november. I got my leave approved, booked discounted airtickets and finished shopping for the gifts. Dear family - here i come!
Unfortunately Chennai to Jaipur does not merit a direct flight - heck, it does not even merit a daily direct train !! And for that matter - the city of Jaipur is not generally very well connected to Chennai. Who would want to go there anyways? Except, maybe people who work in Chennai and belong to Jaipur. Note to self: Talk to this airline's Chairman- I think we atleast one common interest.
My plan was to leave on the evening of the 23rd Dec - fly to Delhi at 8:30 pm and hop aboard one of the numerous buses that ply between Delhi and Jaipur and further into the desert state of Rajasthan.
So here i was, all set to leave - bags packed, dressed up for an 8 hour journey when i recieved a text message on the mobile phone:
"Dear JetAirways customer, your flight no 824 to delhi has been delayed and the ETD is now 10:15 pm." Switch on the telly. Seems that the whole world is delayed due to the fog in delhi ! Thats no big deal - I'll rest for a while and then leave.
9:30 pm - Reach Kamraj domestic airport entrance. Am paying off the autorickshawwallah when I get another SMS: "Dear JetAirways customer, your flight no 824 to delhi has been delayed and the ETD is now 11:00 pm."
Airport is a mess - messier than usual. Think colicy babies, irate yuppies, people with too much baggage. Ugh!
Friendly person on Jet airways check in counter decides to do me a favour - "If you could just speak to my supervisor, she can book you into a flight which is leaving in 5 minutes as there have been some last minute cancellations"
Yay !!
Rush to another counter near the security gate where Not-so friendly supervisor is sitting punching keys on her computer.
Share space with irate yuppie (big square watch and gelled hair, eyes red due to drink and/or work), wealthy corporate type frequent flyer (who comes in from behind - says something in a gruff voice and is let ahead of me), and mother with a very young, very sick looking child. No wonder supervisor is not-so friendly.
'Well, i was sent ahead by ... "
Supervisor does not listen. I wait.
Supervisor does not listen. I wait some more.
Then i give up and demand to be heard .
Bad move.
"Sorry sir, there seems to have been a miscommunication ... " I dont bother for her to even finish her sentence. I rush back to the same check in counter. Friendly person was profusely apologetic, rather unnecessarily so.
Got the boarding pass - and a long wait.
"Dinner is being served for the benefit of all Jet Airways passengers travelling on flight 824 to Delhi at the Taj lounge"
Amble to the Taj Lounge.
Hullo, this doesn't look like the 'Taj Lounge' - more like a buffet spread in a punjabi wedding near midnight - when only the bride, groom and their close family members are still in attendance. So much for my hard earned money.
I get a lot of salad - which, thank god, is fresh. And a lot of stale cheese sandwiches (god is not always kind). Washed down with airport water. The ground staff does little but smile weakly.
I fear a long wait - and listen to some music that says...
"Sir are you going to Delhi?"
Funny music.
Tap on the shoulder with the line being repeated.
Look around - a memeber of the ground staff wants to know if I am travelling to Delhi on 824. Why yes, i am.
"In that case, pls proceed for security check"
And why was that not displayed?
But i dont have enough time to wait for an answer - rush to the security.
Finally, on board, Take off - .. ahh, a sense of relief ... home is just a few
hours away.
Its an hour past midnight, food has been served, consumed and people are sleeping, or sleeping while listening to music, or sleeping with their eyes open and hey, I am sleepy too when a voice booms - "Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand that it's a
rather odd time to make such an announcement"
You bet it is - I don't want your standard weather update and if we're flying over sirpur kagaznagar and how comfortable the passengers are inside the craft while outside it's cold as hell. Look at your watch, dude - it's meant for keeping track of the time. And right now, your watch should tell you that it's time for me to sleep and for you to get me to Delhi.
"Delhi Airport has been closed for all take off and landings till further
announcement due to severe fog. We're over nagpur and since we're closer to Chennai we would be heading back."
No, i didnt hear that correctly - what was that?
"Regret the inconvenience caused, on arrival in Chennai, please contact the ground staff for assistance"
Contact the ground staff? No, I need to contact you-the pilot, like, right now!
There are options, my man! Jaipur is just south of Delhi and a short drive away -let's all land there and take the passengers by coach. I will ,ofcourse, jump ship the moment you let me deplane in my city - and save the bus fare home. How devlishly clever..if you would only listen - o captain, my captain.
The thought remains in my head.
We're turning around ...
The loss of hope and the onset of depression. I leave my seat and go to the
restroom.
I try to stretch on the last row - darn aircraft is not designed properly. Doesn't allow six footers to stretch. And we're going back! This is bad - this is very bad. I look pale - short and pretty air hostess comes around.
"Sir, can i get you something to drink?"
No, I dont need anything to drink. I need the pilot to take the aircraft to Jaipur. I need help. My short and pretty angel - help me now!
I try some ice-breakers.
"So what's your name?"
I half expected to hear - Mia Wallace - but miss short and pretty is not a big fan of Tarantino's.
Miss short and pretty, who equally detests the prospect of turning back, sympathizes, fusses around me a bit but doesn't really help. Rules are rules - the ground staff only can help you now.
We fly back - 'dark and difficult times lie ahead' - is what I'm thinking .. the hour lasts forever.
Arrghhh ......
Landing, halt and the parting shot from the airline ...
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kamraj domestic aiport, Chennai. We hope you had a pleasant flight. Thank you for flying with us and we hope to be of service again"
I cant believe my ears !
Its 2 AM.
(to be continued..)

Merry Christmas, Festive Hanukkah and Kwanza, and a very Prosperous and Happy 2006 and beyond!

2005-12-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

While Christmas is not the biggest of festivals in India (it is big for sure in parts of India - large cities and with those people observing it for religious reasons), of late it has assumed great importance for the likes of me - who by virtue, of being in the offshore outsourcing industry need to remain clued into the American and European and far eastern calendars.
Quite simply, the developed world observes this entire week as a vacation period across religious boundaries. This results in dull days in office, or better - a happy vacation!
Well, there's christmas to start with - the long BIG , overcommercialized holiday in continental america and just about all across the rest of the developed world.
Then there's boxing day (also called the day after christmas or the feast of st stephens)
Hanukkah - the Jewish festive season is celebrated eigth days and nights from the 25th of Kislev. It can be in either november or december but this year, happens to be Dec 25th!
The African american community have their very own festival called Kwanzaa, celebrated from Dec 26th through January 1st every year. The festival distingushes itself from Christmas as not being a substitute but rather a community based celebration. It focuses on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. The word Kwanzaa means 'first fruits of the harvest' and was founded in 1966 as a time for African Americans to reaffirm their ancestral heritage.
Lastly there is the new year - by now, a very well known and almost globally accepted celebration. In Japan, on January 1st shinto prists strike the shrine gong 108 times to drive away the 108 worldly sins.
So, here's wishing you all a merry christmas, festive hanukkah and kwanza and a lovely start to 2006 !

a good walk wasted

2005-11-21T01:22:00.000-08:00

Mark Twain said - Golf is a good walk wasted. That has not stopped me from wasting my precious workout hours last week on this otherwise non-PA intensive game.
I had the good fortune to play a round of Golf at The Leela in Goa last week. It was only the second chance i had to play golf on a course. The game is simply addictive. The course at The leela has an exceptional setting. Its a small course (12 holes) and i dont recall the yardage - but the holes are set in a sort of maze like fashion to accomodate a dozen in an area that would normally allow perhaps half or less that number.
The setting itself is beautiful. There is a small walkway lined with coconut palms that separates the beach from the course. Playing in the evening, we could watch the sun set over the sea.
Now, back to the game that happened. I was playing with a director from my firm - who tried his best to encourage and coach me. The first shot i took, i did not have a swing. Yeah, thats correct, I did NOT have a swing ! i think i dug in the grass and the ball just rolled off the tee. By the third hole, this problem was corrected- but i had developed an addiction for sand traps. By the seventh, the technique to get balls out of sand traps and into greens had been perfected without resorting to any forms of cheating (such as picking up the ball and placing it at a more suitable place without taking a penalty). The last hole had water - and i did not get psyched out. The downside of it was, that the ball went off-course and over the trees (mysteriously managing to remain within bounds). Still managed it within one shot over par.
By the end, i had aching fingers, even more badly aching knees, and a fair number of mosquito bites on the legs. But hey, i can swing now!

fine print

2005-10-25T01:59:00.000-07:00

Just noticed last evening in the Head and Shoulders 'Orange' TV ad whose byline goes - remove dandruff for only Rs. 1.5.
Towards the end of the ad - in fine print, written, and seen on TV - almost as an afterthought, P&G, gives this tip - 'If dandruff persists, contact your dermatologist' !
Am wondering if this should be called a 1.5 Rs scam or the fine print scam !

single entry quiz

2005-10-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Been snowed under with too much to do and too little time (yeah, so whats new, you ask? Well, thats new for me everytime it happens to me!)
So, here's a single entry quiz - feel free to leave your answer - I should be able to log into this site and give the correct answer in about a week.
Dean Mahomet is one of the earliest (some say, the first) Indian author in english. Dean Mahomet's 'Hindostanee coffee house' was not quite as successful as he hoped it would be and eventually declared bankruptcy. It still did hold a unique distinction and changed the face of the country where it was opened. What unique distinction ?
Leave your comments ... bloggers....

Can you remain skyped?

2005-09-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

In an interesting development yesterday, Ebay acquired skype for $2.6 bn (evenly split between cash and stock as of now). Here's the story.

Also, here are some interesting possibilities of what Ebay intends to do with skype.

The Ebay presentation (given to its investors) about the skype aquisition may be accessed directly from the Ebay site here.

The presentation logic centers around:
a) Skype helping Ebay users to trade faster by enabling faster communication.
b) Benefiting from the growth of Skype as a standalone business.

Analysts view the acquisition more as a move to counter competition (Google coming out with google talk, Yahoo buying dialpad, MS buys teleo) than anything else.

This also marks the first significant departure for Ebay from its focus on pure e-commerce and into the broader domain of , for the want of a better term - an internet business. Such businesses include all the functionalities of content, search, commerce, and now increasingly - voice. All have search and now, voice as the common element. MSN differs with no commerce, google and ebay with no or little content.

The question that arises for all you fellow blogosphere dwellers, is that whether you can remain skyped ? or rather, can you remain skyped free for long enough? Going by what google did to blogger.com, looks like the answer at the moment is: YES!

Monday morning surprise!

2005-08-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

The facilities department of my company seems to take stock of the state of the office at regular intervals.
They often send people to check up on the air conditioning, or the meeting room projectors. At times, you could well be surprised to see two men, one supporting the other standing on your work desk, checking up the tube-lights in the false ceiling.
Lately, they were taking a bodycount of the chairs on my floor. I call the activity a bodycount since about a quarter of the chairs were in a bad shape - some with limping arms and others with broken backs. Either they did not finish what they started or the idea was to just take a tally - anyways, almost all the chairs had a note stuck to its back. The notes varied from a simple letter number code (71B, 31 N) to a name (arvind - perhaps arvind was the guy assigned to repair the particular piece), to 'nail this!'
Well, today morning, on the back of my chair, I got a message - 'Screw, NUT'! Well, you can call me names - but atleast not behind my back. and please please, o admin, dont tell me what all to do in my personal life!! ....come to think of it, on monday mornings, it would be quite a risk, wouldnt it ....

Pop it up! We're indian

2005-08-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

Pop-ups are easily one of the most irritating creatures encountered by the casual websurfer. For the marketeer peddling his wares on the world wide web, these maybe handy weapons, but for the average Indian wasting precious minutes on dial-up waiting for the page to load, these can be wallet killers!
After being rather inundated by the number of pop-ups on leading Indian portals/ websites , i decided to do a quick check how they fare vis a vis their global peers. No particular reason for including or excluding any sites, these are based on my general knowledge, so feel free to comment. The results are as follows:
Indiatimes: 2 pop-ups (surprisingly the least, considering its popularity)
Rediff: 3 pop-ups (gone down today, was 4 yesterday)
Times of India: 4 (plus the innumerable moving, flashing thingies - no no, not the photos of the models that TOI features in much abundance, but the links to other sites!!).
Yahoo : Zero (very respectable, must say - what with Google having taken the wind out of their search a long time ago, and the valuations down now)
MSN: Zero (MSN might not seem like much of a portal, but given that its the default landing page after logging out of hotmail, it sure gets a fair share of traffic)
AOL: Zero again!

Well, i give up! Is it because the marketers in India think that if you shove it in the customer's face, he will buy it ? Or is it just that these ads are easier to create? I think these people should be thinking of the state of net connections in India (T1, forget it! Broadband is still abysmally low and cable never took off anyways. So, all we have is dial up). With these kinds of nuisances on their pages, perhaps they are driving away more people than attracting them. While it is suprising that in a competitive scenario, its plain stupid to do that- in a monopolistic case, its just denial of a basic service to the consumer. Certain sites seem to be well aware that they enjoy a monopolistic advantage and are using that to their fullest advantage by hosting as many pop ups as they can. One site has as many as eight of them !!
And this brings us to the absolute out and out winner of this brief survey - the site carrying those many pop-ups: The Indian Railways !

Shade old movie, brand new review

2005-08-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

Finally, when everyone around seems to have bitten, chewed into and thoroughly digested this flick, i got a chance to watch it too! And the fruit of all this effort, was so sweet....
Batman Begins is the darkest batman film till date. Perhaps that is why, it is the best. It brings out Batman as he is really meant to be - very human. A mix of conflicting emotions, a man who is trying to be more than he was born with. No kiddy superman / spiderman stuff - Batman has to rely on all that science can deliver, and money can buy. He can be hurt in ways more than one, and is a very fallible hero. Often misunderstood, chased by the cops, the closest to mere mortals - for he really has no supernatural stuff on his side!
Director Christopher Nolan achieves a very good result with a tight screenplay, some good ole fashioned pyrotechnics and an impressive actor line up. The movie has some of the most seasoned and powerful performers alive today - as differing from BIG stars the likes of which starred in the ludicrous Batman and Robin and Batman forever.
So many and so powerful are each of these actors in their own right, that Christian Bale (who plays batman), has to make a serious effort at times to appear on top of things.
Liam neeson in his role as Henri Ducard is totally in control. In the start of the movie, he is a gentile -suave and powerful, making bale look like a brat (which is very much the director's intention).
Michael Caine delivers his usual good stuff - crisp dialogue delivery, packs a punch as a much more human Alfred than any of those past. Morgan freeman has some effortless, in control, wizened old man scenes. He and Gary oldman have too brief a presence to do much justice to their phenomenal talents. Ken watnabe is totally wasted - some of katie holmes (who is the only weak link in the movie - acting wise) screentime would have been better utilized giving this man perhaps an additional scene.
Oh, but it is a director's film - none of the actors get to do more than what their role is in the story. No long drawn focus on anyone -save on Batman ! Music and effects are good. Batman is human - and very real - flesh and blood. Of all the batman films, Batman begins delivers this image of batman almost to perfection. The film should get a lot of fans, disillusioned by the stupid antics of Jim carrey in Batman forever, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Batman and Robin, back to the Batman franchise.

Big Temple!

2005-08-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

The star attaction of Tanjore (Thanjavur) is often described in cheap tourist brochures as 'Tanjore big temple'. For a change, the cheap tourist brochures have got it right. It is really a big temple -everything about that temple is BIG (facts courtsey Lonely planet):
- a 4 meter high, 7 m circumference shiva lingam in the 'garbha griha'.
- 66 meter high vimana (main tower). Surprisingly, contrary to other places in South India, the gopurum is not the highest structure in the complex.
- 80 tonne weight cupola on the top of the tower that was supposedly hauled up a 4 KM long earthwork ramp using the same methods as the one used for construction of the pyramids in Egypt.
- 250 (!!) shiva lingams (several about a meter high) that line the 1000 pillared corridors all around the temple.
- Scores of murals depcting several successive dynasties (including the marathas) along the walls of the corridors and the roof of smaller temples in the complex.
I could keep throwing the numbers - but they dont do justice to the beauty brought about by the proportions of many elements in this temple. Nor can they help recreate the atmosphere of the place. Despite the very heavy numbers on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the place doesnt look crowded at all - another testimony to the sheer area and size of the temple.
The temple is a earthy brown color -that reflects a more golden hue when lit up at night (a great job done by ASI). The evening viewing also gives you a better chance to soak in the size and proportions of the place -though the lighting is not strong enough to help one appreciate the details.
The temple dates back to 11th century AD and was constructed by Rajaraja Chola - the size is perhaps a reflection of the ambitions of the Cholas. Several successive additions were made by later dynasties - the temple was either always a work in progress or was broken down by some other kings ? Am making this deduction from the way the temple's Vimana abruptly ends and doesnt gradually ease all the way to the front of the temple with several other successive domes. This part is also finished with mortar (which looks like a later addition) and not in stone.
There are several statues / friezes on the main tower and the two gopurums that are superb examples of the chola art. The temple is one of the handful of monuments in India with a world heritage listing and overall, is well worth a visit.
It was terribly hot, so we didn't visit the other notable temples of Gangakondacholapuram or Dharasuram. This one, of course, is the big daddy amongst the three.

Madras - as it was then called...

2005-08-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

Few words - Mostly pics - Got as forwards (so no acknowledgements/ source citings) - with fervent hopes that am not infringing any copyrights here.

Bank of Madras 1935

Madras Library 1913

Kotwal Chawadi Market 1939

Marina 1913

event management

2005-08-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Event organisers who have trouble getting audiences for their event should take a cue from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board's latest trick.

TNEB announced a grievance redressal forum for all Chennai consumers. The event, to be held on August 6th was across multiple locations - covering all major localities of Chennai. From Velachery and Tambaram to Beach, from Thiruvanmiyur to Kilpauk and beyond - residents of all locations could visit their nearest TNEB office and have their grievances addressed.

To ensure wide publicity of the event - a rather longish announcement was given as a news article by the Hindu on the same day. Those who are familiar with Chennai's power situation, are also habituated to look at the page 3, top left column every day - half dreading that its their colony that gets a power cut for 'maintenance work' on said day. The article was thus placed quite well.

But perhaps TNEB did not trust the newspaper reading public enough to take the initiative and show up. Or they were worried that the weather being what it is, people would not get out of their homes. Well, TNEB decided to make sure that people would not have the last reason to hold back from getting their grievance redressed! They cut off electric power supply to entire Velacheri promptly at 9:30 AM on Aug 6th. Fervent phone calls revealed that there's a fault in Taramani transformer and it is being 'worked upon', and would 'soon be rectified'.

The 'soon' happened with the end of the day - at 5:30 pm electric supply was restored. Am sure the redressal forum was a big success - atleast half a dozen residents of my apartment complex were at various offices near velacheri!

Eulogy

2005-08-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

Eulogy is a devilishly funny film. It manages to put the humour in the most serious of situations - death.
A black comedy set in the North East US, follows the interactions of a middle class American family thats more than slightly dysfunctional. The movie revolves around the death of a certain Mr collins (rip torn) and is part narrated by her grand-daugther (a very cute looking Zooey Deschanel)who is asked to write a eulogy for her grandfather by her grandmother.

The entire family consisting of his two sons - played by Hank Azaria and Ray Romano, two daugthers - Alice and Charlotte along with their families assemble at their grandmother's house for the funeral. Right from the start, its evident that the family-members doesnt get along so well.

Constant character assassinations, bickering and shouting are interspersed by sudden attractions where you'd least expect and other surprises. Romano plays a character far far from his 'Raymond' persona.

The show stealers are Romano's twin sons - who are about eleven(called ted and fred in the movie). Sample this - a conversation with their aunt on their birthday as they walk into the kitchen where their Aunt is preparing a birthday cake for them:
Fred Collins: What the hell is that?
Aunt Lily: It's your birthday cake. I was hoping it would be a surprise.
Ted Collins: I'm more than surprised. I'm shocked!
Fred Collins: This isn't what we ordered.
Aunt Lily: You don't *order* your mother. I spent two days making...
Ted Collins: We *ordered* an erotic cheesecake.
Aunt Lily: Excuse me?
Ted Collins: You're excused.

This and several other such scenes sometimes make you completely forget that the movie setting is about death. But this is actually what makes it so funny. Through these scenes, the film brings up several sensitive issues - same sex marriages, the stereotyping of lesbians in the american society, dysfunctional families, chasing money beyond anything else, etc.
The film also has several twists in the story as true characters get revealed and finally, the ending itself. Recommended !

Special Mexican Jain Fajita Platter.

2005-07-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

Last evening, landed up at this cafe euphemistically titled 'New Yorker'. I have never been to NY so am not qualified to comment on the looks of the cafe. Perhaps they reminded the owner of NY - they reminded me of a nice middle class Indian restaurant rather than a deli.
The selection was not bad - there was a lot of mexican food going around, some sandwiches, and the madatory paneer butter masala with naan was available as well.
But what made me suddenly ogle very hard at the menu was the 'Special Mexican Jain Fajita Platter'. With due regards to the community (I am a half member of the same, btw), it really made me laugh so hard that the couple on the next table almost dropped their drinks (and no, there is NO alcohol served in the Jain version of Daiquiri available at the eatery). Friend and i thence set about exploring the menu for other such dishes. And lo, there were several - from Jain Falafel (when did the mediterranean countries convert en masse?) to Mexican Jain beans! 'Whats a Mexican Jain bean??' - asked friend.
Coming from a family that's half Jain , I ofcourse am intimately familiar with what a 'Jain' variant of any dish is. But for the uninitiated friend, a note at the bottom of every page of the menu explained 'all items can be prepared without onion and garlic for our Jain patrons'.
I have grown up eating rajasthani jain food all my life. Yet, whenever i encounter any such eatery thats trying to bring the taste of alien cuisines to this conservative community, i cant help but laugh. It feels to me that you want to drive a race car, but within the speed limits.
And this phenomenon extends to all other cuisines served in India as well - Chowmein and the McAlootikki burger being the prime examples that spring readily to my mind.
So,we want it, but we want it our way !
Another fantastic testimony to our ability to indianize everything that comes our way. Ranging from fashion to food, rulers to religion - everything in this country is Indian. So, I guess it was the same for the poor bean. He woke up one fine morning, and found a potbellied half naked Indian 'Maharaj' in a dhoti- pouring water over him and his ilk, going on and on persistently saying - 'you were born in Mexico, but now, you're a pure Jain bean!' My heart bleeds for the little bean - he must have died of shock - No wonder it all tasted so flat.

Google on the moon!

2005-07-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

Google has an amazing sense of humour. This has earlier been seen in their wonderful logos that keep appearing from time to time on the main page. This time around, though, they have outdone anything they did previously.
Seems that they are hiring for their upcoming moon facility!! Well, i would not want to take away your fun by attempting to reproduce anymore here. Just take a look for yourself (and make sure you click all the next buttons)...
It kinda makes you wonder, is it the 3000 engineers that did it or is it the $80 billion valuation (that makes it the most valuable media company in the world)?
ps note that this 'job listing' is not present on 'all jobs' category on the main google site. Hats off ! Nerds know how to have a good laugh!

Road Trip - Need your opinion!

2005-07-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

Peepul!
Need your esteemed opinion here. I have a long weekend comin up (mid august) and that shall be further elongated by taking an additional day off making it 4 or maybe 5 days.
Now, I NEED a vacation. My usual mode of taking a vacation for the last 2 years has been as follows:
1. Read the lonely planet. Keep reading it for all possible options till mom shouts, are we going to go or you just want to read the book throughout your vacation?
2. Start driving in the general intended direction of the destination. Sometimes i drive just coz the road is good (like Jaipur Ajmer or Bangalore Salem) and the destination is automatically decided.
3. Reach, explore, click pics, sleep, drive to next destination.
4. Stop! "We missed the turn, beta!" Go back 20 kms, curse self for lack of knowing tamil/telugu/malayalam/kannada. Take correct turn. Make note to myself for reading Lonely planet even more.
5. Etc etc ... driving is the key. I love the flexibility that having your own car offers (though usually not at the expense of the quality of the destination)
These trips have taken me to South Karnataka (mysore, Halebid, Sravanabelagola, Coorg, Kushalnagar), Kerala (wayanad, munnar, thekkady, athirapally, kumarakkom), Andhra border (lepakshi), and a bit of TN (Ooty, Coonoor, Hogenakkal, Yercaud).
So this time round, given the weather, i need options !!
Am contemplating Pondicherry with an extension to Tanjore. Another one could be Kodaikanal. My only limitation is that the farthest point has to be not more than 10 hours one way drive.
So dear readers, do leave your comments - they're invaluable ! many thanks!

Blogger's meet

2005-07-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

On kiruba's initiative we had a blogger's meet on Saturday the 23rd of July. The highlights of the evening (in order) were:
-- Fried idlis, bondas, fries and other good snacks.
-- Lovely location - The meet was held in the Madras boat club (which the map on krib's site mentions as Adyar boat club, resulting in me having that episode with the security guard (thats a separate story some other time). The place was established by the brits (the logo reads established 1867 - must be!) and has all the charm of a raj era establishment, with dress codes for people who enter, members only parking, brit names, and a nice bar (which NO one had the good sense to spend more time in).
Except for the visibly messy water, the place is quite something and well worth a visit (if they let you in, that is). Its a different view from down by the river, you know! Also, there was a point interestingly named, Titanic. Dont know why its called thus. There are photographs of Chennai from the 1940s hanging inside an office, and its quite a delight to see the original spencer's plaza, several buildings on Mount road as they used to be and marvel at the changes since!
The meeting itself was far too civilized, owing to Kiruba's refusal to jump in the water (if someone falls in the water, then after getting out, he's obliged to buy everyone in the club at that moment a drink!). With hindsight, we should have thrown each other in the water, and just gone dutch to the bar! Now, THAT would be quite a meet!
Hey, but all in all, i got 2 meet a bunch of interesting ppl! So a big thank you to the people taking this initiative - and to Royal Enfield for the sponsorship. Hope to meet everyone again, soon!

The grandest chastity belt ever

2005-07-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

One would normally associate chastity belts with medieval Europe. The mention of this term conjures images of fair women, usually discomforted by the weight of pieces of metal guarding their virtue. Chastity belts were perhaps used by Knights in medieval Europe.
However, something quite different conjured the same image in my mind. It wasnt an object quite so small as to be contained in one's hands. It was rather big - several hundred square yards in area actually. Its a small palace in the magnificient Chittorgarh fort.
The reference is to Padmini's palace in Chittorgarh. This rather small palace was the summer residence of queen padmini of Mewar. Her story, told beautifully in padmavat is summarized here.
After hearing this story several times while growing up in Rajasthan, i was definitely curious to see where the stunningly beautiful padmini would have lived, been seen by the mighty sultan of Delhi and the venue of the ensuing manslaughter.
I had expectations of a place soaked in history, with a certain air of mystery around it. And i was not disappointed - for the entire fort of chittorgarh gives the impression of a place once full of life, and now desolate.
What struck me about Padmini's palace though was its curious construction and location. The entire palace is two halves. One, the larger includes the 'divan-e-khaas', quarters for the queen's servants and even a covered corridor where she could pass unseen by the menfolk all the way to a set of doors that opened near the edge of a small lake. This half also houses a pavillion which has a mirror - the reflection of anyone standing behind the window in the second half of the palace can be seen in the same (though it would be a terribly small image)
The second portion is inside this lake, and it can be accessed only by boat! It is a two and a half storeyed structure completely surrounded by water and this is where the lovely rani would spend most of her time, to reduce the impact of the terrible rajasthani summer. Imagine, a queen, and she usually is confined to a place, that is accessible only by boat, surrounded by people that ensure that she's not seen by any other men at any hour, and finally her glimpse was granted to the sultan of delhi standing about 100 feet away and gazing in a mirror! The entire scene and story made me wonder who did the rajputs did not trust enough, the invading muslim warriors or their own womenfolk?
Clearly, the grandest chastity belt ever ....

ode to a road

2005-07-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

No poem here, sorry! - It's just a short account about perhaps the best road i've ever travelled on, in this country. I havent travelled a whole lot, but i reckon that i've been on the better known ones. These include Bangalore-Chennai, Bombay-Pune, Ahmedabad-Vadodara and Jaipur-Delhi. All these form a part of the golden quadrilateral project.
The one road that i did not expect would beat all of these (but did), happens to lie between Jaipur and the small city of Ajmer. It covers all of 138 Kms and is a sight to be seen and experienced.
The distance, prior to the upgradation of this road, would take about 2.5 hours. Now, its an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half! Well, just how did NHAI ensure that this happens?
For starters, the road is 6 laned. And all the lanes have the capacity to accomodate a full fledged truck - so thats three trucks abreast width for you. None of the villages create any obstructions - all the villages being cut into two by the road get an underpass - so while you 'fly-over', the pedestrians, bullock carts and the like can pass underneath without causing any slowdowns. Plus all the populated areas see the road being shielded by high steel fences painted with fluorescent paint to avoid any accidental crossing. All the flyovers are well lit. Ample truck lay-byes help any truckers who want to take a rest slow down and stop. Further, the road does NOT pass through any of the several towns - instead it travels around their periphery with a beautiful diversion (usually through a lifted up pass)with clear signs that help you steer clear of the town if you intend to.
The net result is that everyone (and i mean passenger cars) travel around 80 kmph or more!
Well, it doesnt come free for sure - there are toll booths every 80 kms or so (the road is all the way to Ahmedabad and begins from Delhi- not in the same shape though).
For all you affecinados of Delhi-Jaipur - beat it. This monsoon has left Del-Jai in a bad shape (esp about 60 kms on Jaipur end). For those who swear by Bom-Pune, thanks to the ultra low population density of Rajasthan there's rather little nuisance by other drivers.
Overall, the road is a 9/10 (the one point deducted as most people are used to driving in two lanes and just would not use the third -slowing everyone down). Perhaps the best testimony to this road is the fact that we completed the stretch in 1.5 hrs in a non-A/C Maruti 800 including two short stopovers for changing drivers and taking a snap of a particularly good looking flyover! The normal speed was about 80 kmph. I can only imagine what i could do with a more powerful car.
Go on, get in top gear!

lose weight here!

2005-07-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

Visited the Aiwo spa last weekend. For the uninitiated, Aiwo is the brainchild of C Siwasankaran of the steriling group and is better known for its health food menu and a unique 'conveyor belt' meal.
This piece though is about the spa (?) under the same brand. A really spacious basement under the Kamaraj Auditorium, Teynampet, Anna Salai houses this spa. I found the title 'spa' rather surprising - since more than half the area seems to be devoted to exercise equipment along the lines of a regular gym. My impressions of a 'spa' - based on reading glossies, was rather different. Where were the amber scented incense, and the pretty oriental women with flowers in their hair, huh?
The staff is present in large numbers, is helpful but rather low on the knowledge of their own services. The gentleman showing me around, eg., knew that some exercise machine has recently arrived from New York, but could not explain as to what parts of my body does it stretch! Steam bath, various kinds of massage, hydrotherapy is all present. Sauna, sadly, is not.
Aiwo also gives you customized packages where the house doctor would weigh you, measure your body fat index and determine a suitable exercise and diet regime for you.
And if all that doesnt help you lose weight, the package cost surely would. At INR 50K per year, you're sure to achieve success in losing weight starting with your wallet!

for what do they know?

2005-07-08T04:26:00.000-07:00

Seconding my take on war of the worlds- that has been slammed by a Chennai critic - but recieves my full 2 cents worth of admiration, here is an interesting story about why one should trust one's own judgement over critics.
This story involves an area where people are frequently confused as to what is good and what is not - Good wines! Similar to high fashion, art and other objects of indeterminate value, critiquing wines has been the preserve of the snootier-than-thou critic community.
In a fantastic short report published June 7,1976 in Time magazine, the reporter unveiled the goof-ups made by critics regarding quality of wine as related to a particular geography. The San Franciso chronicle carries this tale in a report dated June 16,2005. Read that report here

On why spielberg is still a genius

2005-07-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

Watched War of the Worlds last weekend. The critic of The Hindu (a certain mr Janardhan or is it venkataraman) seems to have slammed the movie in today's metro plus. I would like to refrain from saying bad things about this critic. But i still think he ought to have his head examined. This monologue, is, however not a dissection of the critiue that the said 'critic' has come up with.
War of the world's is, by the director's own admission, a 'retelling' of the HG Wells classic. And Spielberg has altered the tale's setting very well from London in the original to NY in the film. The psychosis that grips the viewer is palpable. The first half is outstanding for its pace, sense of drama and overall performance. The movie loses out on account of a dragging second half and a tame ending. But, Mr Spielberg cant be faulted for that - he's just being true to the book!
More importantly, the interesting aspect of the movie is that true to the book's spirit, it sticks to the entire story being told from the perspective of a common worker as the mayhem is unleashed. Not in a single scene, are the viewers made to focus or delve too deeply into the 'other side'. Also, while the technology used gives marvellous effects, it never overpowers the human emotions which weave the fabric of this narrative. And that is what i've found so endearing about Spielberg films - from Saving Private Ryan, to Minority Report to this one.
Cruise and Fanning deliver good performances with the latter stealing many a scene from the former. Tim robbins was ok but has too brief an appearance.
The spielberg team of Januzs Kaminski (cinematography) and Michael Kahn (edit) delivers the usual solid stuff. Final take on the movie is that it remains quintessential spielberg! He tells you a tale and you stay put on your seat and enjoy the ride. He can scare you, make you laugh and cry, for he's the storyteller and in command ! So, if you belive that movies are a vehicle for telling a good story in a compelling way, this one fits the bill.

leaving on a jet plane?

2005-07-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Indian Airlines announced a new fare scheme- passengers can buy tickets with different fare slabs. The scheme differs from the existing Apex fares in the sense of not being time bound. One can book less than a month or fifteen days in advance, and can cancel till the last day with only a five hundred rupees cancellation charge.

I did rue my misfortune a bit. I had cancelled my own tickets for 30th of June and 6th of July only last week - and lost 50% of the basic fare both ways. But what had incensed me more, is that under the IA rules, any tickets purchased from agents can be cancelled only with the same agent !

I found this rule stupid and damaging to the passengers' interests in two ways. First, it leaves them exposed to any additional 'service charges' or other baseless excuses to extort more money by travel agents of lesser repute. E.g, my agent had demanded an additional 200/- or 10% of the basic fare of 'documentation charges'! (hullo, this is not a bank loan! hullo, anybody home?) Second, in case the passenger happens to be in a different city with the ticket and cant return to the city where the ticket is purchased, the entire amount could go down the drain! e.g. If one has completed one leg of the journey and needs to cancel his return trip. The agent is suddenly all powerful.

As a fair transaction, once the ticket is purchased by an individual, any changes or cancellations have to be seen as a matter between the service provider (airline) and the consumer - not the intermediary!
Incidentally, am still trying to get my money back from my agent - was refused any payment on the surrender or the ticket - "it would happen only after 30 days, saaar, our finance peepul keep making payments everyday you know". And you can keep collecting cash by the minute, surely, can't you?

One can only hope that the increasing competition will bring a better deal for the consumer not only in the fares department, but also in the overall flying experience. At the moment, though, the established players seem more interested in raising entry barriers for newer players than getting their act together. Hope they focus their energies where its warranted. Any service, including air travel consists of more than the core (transportation in this case). From the first moment of contact till the last, every experience with the service provider counts. And while the great indian middle class knows that at these price points, expecting frills is not justified, a fair deal definitely is!

Universal DVD exchange

2005-06-30T01:53:00.000-07:00

Those who believe that good quality DVDs for personal viewing can only be obtained from Big businesses, running on elaborate business models, state of the art servers supporting a web based architecture, please skip this post.

This is not my experience with Netflix, Blockbuster or even Amazon or Half. (yeah yeah they're not available in India, but even if they were, the Chennai system of DVD acquisition would beat them any day) This is the chronicle of my encounter with the rather strange workings of a universal DVD purchase system available on the streets of Chennai.

It started when i could not get a Set top box and hence my favorite cable channels. (oh, thats perhaps another post, some time in the future). In brief, due to the absence of this essential gadget i still do not recieve what the rest of the country takes for granted - cheap, american and desi entertainment served by the channel-loads on your TV all hours of the day and night.

Nor did my search for DVD rental yield any good results. Seems that overzealous police action had left very few DVD/VCD rental libraries surviving in this city. For someone who just moved from Bangalore- it was a nightmare.Search for entertainment in languages i understand (read - hindi and english)led me to purchasing a DVD from a seller sitting on the pavement in near the IIT, Chennai. I knew it was a risk - unauthorised copy of a DVD, could have a bad sound, could have no sound!

And, as I feared, it didn't work. Well, am not too demanding, but i want the picture to be reasonably clear and the sound to be audible. But this baby, it didnt work at all! Back i went all the way near the IIT. And, mr seller was not available.

On the way home, spotted another seller, this one, much closer to my residcence. This bloke, had the same promise. 'Not working, return saar'
Oh well, let me give it a shot.
(If there's a god for movie buffs - he was watching that moment.)
Purchased another DVD. Worked.

What about the last one? Well, the same seller was happy to take back something that i didnt purchase from him in the first place ! It seemed that he had the option to return all and any faulty DVD to the place where they make these pirated plastic discs! The volumes are so high that his vendor doesnt care how many he returns. Or maybe the poor guy was just too broke (I'd rather not think about that possibility to ease my conscience)

Since then, the exercise has been repeated countless times. Buy a DVD wherever you are in the city, if it doesnt work, catch hold of the nearest seller -and return it. Perhaps the only prerequisites for being a member of this city wide exercise is to shake your head violently against the seller's protests and act totally daft. I dont have a clue as to why they would take back a faulty piece of something that they did not sell in the first place.

But somehow, the universal DVD exchange of chennai, seems to work wonderfully well for me! God bless.

vegetarian houses

2005-06-27T05:03:00.000-07:00

Spotted this down at my office building cafeteria:

House for rent available (Vegetarian)
-------------------------------------
2 bedroom, 2 balcony, spaciaous, airy house available for rent - adyar area. Only vegetarian small families may apply (!!). Girls sharing (upto 6) permitted. No bachelors allowed. Only decent people may apply. Please contact (7-9 pm) at ....
-------------------------------------
Now, me being an indecent looking North Indian of the wrong sex, and a bachlelor at that, obviously didnt even think towards 'applying' for this house. But i was certainly surprised at the house's diet preferences.
This is not an isolated example, btw. Anyone who's searched for a place to rent in Chennai would swear what a nerve wracking experience it can be. Thankfully, with the IT boom in the city - many a landlords' apprehensions seem to be going down. But like the post above tells, they're far from completely gone. The chennai property classifieds of major newspapers could compete with the paper's matrimonial section just for the entertainment value.

YAEH ...

2005-06-27T01:21:00.000-07:00

No, i didn't misspell that. It stands for Yet Another Ecotel Hotel. This about the yet-to-open 'Raintree' ecotel hotel in Chennai.
Raintree is Chennai's newest hotel venture. So new, its not even functional yet. Its a part of the 'Ceebros' group venture into hospitality. Ceebros claims that this property is south india's first ecotel.
I was at the venue last evening (for a hash run actually) and was taken on the obligatory guided tour of the property. Honestly, i didnt understand what the hoopla was all about.
For starters, the rooms are small (read: park hotel, delhi rooms *0.8) size. (dont even ask me about the bathrooms) The prices are surely reasonable by a 5* standard : (abt 3500 for a double). BUT, those are introductory prices only. As a value proposition on the luxury scale, then, it doesnt seem to cut. On the 'eco-concious' scale, depends on the available consumer segment headed for chennai. I would like to save the environment, but not by paying too much for rooms too small.
Decor should definitely appeal to very upmarket tastes - abstract art on the walls, flat screen TVs in the rooms by default, and plush leather lounge sofas in suites. But looks are too european designer chic. So, the look and feel may not be a 5* to an Indian psyche - remember, in India 5 stars have to be grand! High atria, big lobbies, and miles of polished floors under artificial lighting to walk on. Maybe once they open for business (thats in end july 2005), it would have a different look (yesterday, the carpet was under plastic, and the scaffolding in place) and could give hotels like park a run for their money. Location is prime (next to ITC park sheraton) and a growing breed of travellers who want clean comfortable rooms that are easy on the concience (recycled water, AC heating used to heat water for rooms, etc) coupled with the small size (105 rooms only) could still make it a success.

Old Trick

2005-06-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

Incremental re-branding is nothing new. However, every time, the brands seem to be using the same strategy. Must be a successful one -

In the first half of the nineties, Lexmark did it to IBM. Lexmark purchased the office supplies and equipment line from IBM in 1991 and agreed to relinquish the IBM name in 1996. In a four stage process, over five years, the prominence of the IBM logo was reduced and the Lexmark logo increased. This was presented as a classic case of brand repositioning in Principles of marketing, Kotler.

I observerd the same stuff going on in a different case - in the context of e-commerce, something totally new economy (its a virtual model, after all). Ebay's aquisition of bazee.com.
Logos below, tell the story.
In 2003:

In 2004:

Today:

You know where its goin!!

Long due book review

2005-06-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Most blogs seem to be carrying book reviews. Being a true MBA, i subscribe to the heard mentality of safety in numbers, etc.
Here're my comments on two rather good books i read in the last fortnight:
The Perfect Store by Adam Cohen is the story of Ebay. Cohen writes in an easygoing style, and with a rather infectious enthusiasm about Ebay's early days- tracing its growth from AuctionWeb down to the days of the buyout of half.com. Book is a good read, especially if you want to understand Omidyar's motivation behind starting something like Ebay. Also, gives a lot of clues about the internal workings of early Ebay and the importance they place on 'community'
Maximum City: Bombay lost and found by Suketu Mehta is an account of the most unique city -the megapolis of Mumbai. Suketu is a 'returnee' to Bombay and tells the tales of day to day encounters that he undergoes with characteristic honesty. The contrasts that he experiences as an NRI who returns to the city of his childhood after a long gap are striking. Also notable are some of the aspects of the city that are often speculated about, but rarely delved deep into. Worth a read. I have a penchant for travel books, or books about places. Thus, when i spotted a recommendation by William Dalrymple on the back cover of this one - I knew i had to pick it up!

Rainy days

2005-06-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

The title of a fairly well known book is 'Madras on rainy days'. Seems that god had been browsing through the pages this weekend. He perhaps got inspired by the title.
Wonderful mild showers all through Monday evening and continuing well into the night. No airconditioning was required all of last night in Chennai!
Incredible!
Heaven!
Till the time the sun comes out, that is. Then, its a steaming swamp.
Rain in India is such a well researched, debated and thoroughly beaten to a pulp topic that i won't waste much energy dwelling on the subject.
There are government departments, media and the corner 'paan' shop chatterati to deal with it.

But rain holds special meaning in a desert - in the state that i grew up in. Prior to the rain, a few days, it used to be unusually hot. My grandmother - a marwari used to call it 'amoojha' - a term referring to the uneasy situation that such weather produces.
Then, hot dusty winds would blow across the city - well known to Indians as the title of a movie too - Aandhi. Leaves, dried to a thin paper consistency, mixed with handfuls of fine sand blowing all over stationary vehicles, entering our homes. And yet, this irritation would be much looked forward to!
For it brought that very first rain of the season.

Drops, small. I am outside and mother is calling me to come in.
Drops, Big. I am outside and mother is rather seriously calling me in.
Chains of water falling! I am entering the house reluctantly, soaked to my last pore. Mother gives me a stern look. And then, as usual, i know she'll clean up after me.

The earth smells different - a lovely fragrance. Indescribable to anyone but to the one who has experienced it first hand. Lovely wet earth.
The dry desert sand drinks it all, like a lover waiting for long, smothering the beloved in kisses. That hunger! Streets are empty- only the homeless or those unlucky enough to be caught in the downpour are about.

And there are the peacocks. And the little birds - sparrows, parakeets, pigeons, all looking for shelter from the rain.
Rain comes down so hard, its impossible to see beyond a few feet.
Rain comes down in such volumes, seems like it would never end.
Yet it does, in just an hour. Or perhaps two.
Doesnt start again till next day. Its lovely weather inbetween. People go out for an entire day with families celebrating the arrival of rains.

Its a time for a traditional picnic - called 'goth'. There shall be daal, baati and choorma - all made on the spot!
Extended families - dozens of members, with a cook in tow, acend the nearby hillocks or Aravali. Moutains older than the Himalayas. Always dusty and dry - suddenly they are so green!
All the little plants hiding in their brown shells have come out- enticed by the rain. Where did the desert go? Brings a smile to all faces.
Those are the rains of the desert state. Much needed, much welcomed and always missed. Like the love of those you love most.

The fish from Star Wars

2005-06-22T03:56:00.000-07:00

This sunday, spotted a dead pufferfish (I hope i got the name right, maybe its time to watch more discovery channel) on Injambakkam beach. I usually end up on this particular beach on weekend evenings - its rather less crowded (by indian standards - You can visualize about 1 person per 25 feet of beach width) . Sudden death of my camera battery ensured that i could not photograph the unusual creature. To someone who lived 22 years in a desert - this seemed most unusual.
It looked so lucasian (more than a foot long, 8 inch dia, ghastly very wet dirty brown color, with all those spines, and big eye sockets - could have gone straight to any star wars installment) and so dead.

Raja of the museum

2005-06-22T03:27:00.000-07:00

Chennai does have a history - and more than that its a city with a sense of history about it. Ofcourse, you need to go in select pockets to find out where all that history has disappeared beneath the fumes of buses and auto-rickshaws. Chennai museum is one such place.
A visit there resulted in one of the most interesting moments of my being in Chennai so far. "Discovered" a Ravi Varma collection in the Chennai museum. Ravi Varma was probably the first indian painter who utilized the european styles (full fleshed, sensuous depictions of humans, with a very renaissance look as far as lighting and color are concerned) with Indian subjects ! I have, sometimes perchance and sometimes by design, visited collections housing paintings by this genius painter in different Indian cities (in Mysore, Baroda and Indore). Surprisingly, the very first visit to a Ravi varma gallery (i think it was indore) did not strike me as unfamiliar territory. Later, several years later, actually, some netsurfing revealed the answer. Till date, many of the hindu gods and goddesses printed in calenders are direct copies of Ravi Varma paintings. He, of course, depicted subjects other than those of a religious disposition. But the religious ones, were most easily picked up for use by the masses and got meshed with collective memories!
The gallery is certainly the pick of the museum - the painting of the miser worth good close look. There are pieces by some other prominent painters such as Abanindranath TAgore and Jamini Roy on display as well.
But Ravi Varma, remains the raja of the museum for me!

Easy come, easy go

2005-06-22T03:26:00.000-07:00

The decision of the union ministry to hike petrol prices was announced on monday morning.
That night, on my way back to home from office, i stopped by at the petrol pump.
The attendants were probably so used to this phenomenon - price hike followed by all motorists getting their tanks filled up.
A cars arrival must be something special in a place so full of bikes
His face lit up.
"Tank full, saar?"
Umm .. no ...
I thought, how far can 35 litres carry me anyways?
Reached into my purse - and being low on cash - got a measly Rs 200/- out.
Smile was off. 4.85 litres at the old rate.
The old rate that would never return - this is not like the stock market - it goes only up!
Hmm, so i saved Rs 10 on this purchase.
Shortly afterwards, i stopped at the lending library and picked up two comics - for a Rs 10/- rent.
Ahh .. easy come, easy go!

encounter with amma

2005-06-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

This morning was a rude jolt that i was in India - for the last several days - work and after work recreation had kept me so engrossed that it didnt matter where i was, geographically. I was always online, after all !! I would hit office by 8:45 or so...and reach home only by 9:00 or later. Weekends would be spent sleeping and getting out in the eve to go to a beach or some Aircon fancy place. Geography was history .. atleast temporarily.

This morning - was a little late - about 8:55 i was 250 meters from tidel park (the swank statement that this city could compete in terms of work environment with any other place - escalators inside, gates that opened at the sight of little plastic cards, glass and steel, cool, comfortable - so unlike the utter chaos that prevails outside....).

Suddenly, a few angry looking policemen stopped my car. For a moment, i thought i was havin my first brush with the law of late. Then, i saw that all the cars were stopping. So no cars this way today, eh? I mused... No, all other vehicles were made to wait too! Well, a few gentle enquiries in english made to the police yielded nothing.

So i waited, and so did the Big Car next to me, and the bike to the left and the bullock cart next to the Big Car. And the hundreds in buses, sweating to their underpants - gazing outside, waiting for that momentary respite from the breeze that would blow only when the bus moves, waited ! Pretty soon, it was a swarm of vehicles -oil, gas, human and animal powered stretching well over a kilometer, all waiting in the sickly heat of chennai and amongst them, pedestrians - trying to elbow their way inbetween the vehicles. They all waited - We all waited ...

Sound of horns, shouts from the people ... and a silent gaze from the police.

Asked the guy on a bike waiting next to me. 'The CM has to pass through.' Ahh .. first among equals. Well, boxer sighed and waited -resolved to get to work.

Funny thing was not the three quarters of an hour that several hundreds of people had to wait. Funny thing was, her highness the CM had passed from the junction after everyone had waited a mere 10 minutes. and yet, her minions would not let anyone else pass! (that man driving his bullock cart might be the terrorist for all you know, that IT engineer in the company bus must be a saboteur! -their vigil was strict, their gaze piercing)

The sum total loss that people had to bear, so that the CM could pass through was far outweighed by the utter humiliation that everyone feels at such moments - moments created by protocol, moments stretched by overzealous law enforcers. Moments that make you feel really small -- smaller than you should feel as a human.

Anyways, i welcomed myself back to the real world, to my beloved country. Its vice like grip is too strong anyways.
"I Love you, I'll kill you" - goes the song ...